Ex-Russian president & PM Medvedev says Condoleezza Rice took umbrage when he criticized US’ electoral college system

Russia-US relations are continuing to deteriorate. That's according to former president and ex-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who also revealed certain American officials don't like the US democratic process being questioned.

Now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Medvedev said he was “shocked” by ex-US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's reaction when he pointed out a peculiarity of the American electoral college system, which often causes situations where a candidate who has gained the majority of the public vote ends up losing the election.

“We held meetings and talks both in the US and in Russia, I was working as head of the presidential administration back then. At some point, she started saying something to me, criticizing us. After hearing her out, I said: ‘Why would you try and teach us something if your president is elected by the minority of votes?’” Medvedev disclosed, addressing an online conference with the members of the Youth Patriotic Forum Ostrova-2020.

"She told me, ‘You know, we are used to this system and we think it’s a good one.’ And that’s it, end of discussion,” he stated. Of course, Rice's boss, former President George W. Bush, was famously elected despite losing the popular vote to Democrat candidate Al Gore. History repeated itself in 2016, when Hillary Clinton received more votes than Donald Trump.

The youngsters also asked Medvedev who is better equipped to lead the US: President Donald Trump, or his opponent Joe Biden. Medvedev noted that he knows both Trump and Biden, and “each of them is an interesting person in their own way.” He added that Russia-US relations have declined compared to how they were in the past.

“It is common to say in such situations that this is the choice of the American people, the US nation has to decide who will head this leading global power,” Medvedev explained, adding that Russia values good ties with the US. “However, it has been difficult to build these relations, moreover, they have deteriorated to a significant extent compared to some periods in the past.” He insisted that Russia is not at fault for this deterioration.

The former president also admitted that Russia’s electoral system is not without fault, but added that “we have to keep in mind that when it comes to discussing the shortcomings of their political system, our US partners turn defensive and say: ‘We are satisfied with everything, don’t meddle.’”

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